I think we’re all big fans of The Great British Bake Off and I know many of us have turned to baking as a pandemic pastime. There are two things I loved with my whole heart and soul about this book. The focus is certainly on Rosaline with the romance being a very big part of her character arc. The main focus of the book is less on who Rosaline will end up with and more on why, and how she learns to be a more confident person who takes ownership of the life she wants to lead instead of the life she thinks she should lead.Īmanda: Carrie pretty much covers everything in terms of the plot! I’ve also seen people call this fiction with strong romantic elements, which I can very well see an argument for. It also has two love interests, with Rosaline wanting to be with Alain, who is just exactly the kind of guy her parents would love, while she actually prefers spending time with Harry, a working-class, laconic guy who is both kind and useful (he’s an electrician). This book is very much a rom-com, not a romance:we get a glorious ensemble of characters, a focus on Rosaline’s character growth, and a story that only gives the reader Rosaline’s point of view. Surely this will not have repercussions of an embarrassing nature…or WILL THEY? She also, in a mad attempt to seem more interesting, tells him that she dropped out of med school in order to take a gap year in Malawi (blatant lie) and that she is back in medical school (another blatant lie).

In true rom-com fashion, Rosaline finds herself telling Alain that she is bisexual (true) and dropped out of med school (also true). However, Rosaline misses her train which forces her to meet-cute (and explain what meet cute means) another contestant who has also missed the train, Alain. Rosaline applies to be a contestant on Bake Expectations in hopes of landing a higher-paying job, perhaps involving a cooking column. Her ex-girlfriend, Lauren, is still her best friend and biggest cheerleader. However, she dropped out of college to raise her daughter Amelie and now works in a stationary shop and struggles financially. Rosaline is the daughter of two very high-achieving parents who put enormous pressure on her to become a doctor. They should also expect to be really moved as this funny book does not flinch from some serious and painful topics. The question is not “will she find true love” but “with whom will she find it?” Readers should expect to be very hungry while reading this book, as well as by turns amused, infuriated, and delighted. Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake is a fun rom-com in which a single mom enters a baking contest (a fictional version of The Great British Bake Off) and finds true love. Emotional abuse, bi-phobia, gaslighting, sexual assault

Rosaline palmer takes the cake